Asset management has always been an important part of commerce. Tracking assets is important to organizations of all kinds, whether it be a company keeping track of inventory to be sold in its stores, or a package delivery provider keeping track of packages being transported through its delivery network. To provide quality service, an organization typically creates and maintains a highly organized network for tracking its assets. Effective management of such networks allows lower cost, reduced delivery time, and enhanced customer service.
Technological advances have enabled items to be tracked in ways that far exceed the functionality of a simple list. A rich information framework now can be applied to describe the item's interaction with its surroundings, such as transportation and custodial handoffs.
Bar codes are one way organizations keep track of items. A retailer, for example, may use bar codes on items in its inventory. For example, items to be sold in a retailer's store may each have a different bar code on it. In order to keep track of inventory, the retailer typically scans the bar code on each item. In addition, when an item is sold to a consumer, the bar code for that item is scanned.
Similarly, a package delivery provider may utilize bar codes by associating a bar code with packages to be delivered to a recipient. For example, a package may have a bar code corresponding to a tracking number for that package. Each time the package goes through a checkpoint (e.g., the courier taking initial control of the package, the package being placed in a storage facility, the package being delivered to the recipient, etc.), the package's bar code may be scanned. Bar codes, however, have the disadvantage that personnel must manually scan each bar code on each item in order to effectively track the items.
Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tags are an improvement over typical bar codes. RFID tags do not require manual scanning that is required by typical bar codes. For example, in a retail context, an RFID tag on an inventory item may be able to communicate with an electronic reader that detects items in a shopping cart and adds the cost of each item to a bill for the consumer. RFID tags have also been used to track things such as livestock, railroad cars, trucks, and even airline baggage. These tags typically only allow for basic tracking and do not provide a way to improve asset management using information about the environment in which the items are tracked.
Sensor-based tracking systems are also known which can provide more information than RFID systems. Such systems, however, can be expensive, and may provide extraneous and redundant item information.
It is therefore desirable to provide a system that lowers the costs of sensor-based tracking and enables sensor data to be shared in order to build a strong information web surrounding the item being tracked.